Simone Atangana Bekono​Emerging writer from the Netherlands

'To this day I believe my work is influenced by an interest in film. It determines my approach to stories. What I write is a cross between a poem and a film script.'

Simone Atangana Bekono (1991) graduated from Creative Writing ArtEZ in 2016 with a collection of poems and letters called hoe de eerste vonken zichtbaar waren (how the first sparks were visible), which was republished by Wintertuin Uitgeverij in collaboration with Lebowski Publishers. Since then her work has been published on literary platforms De Optimist, Samplekanon and De Gids. She performed at Nacht van de Poëzie, Wintertuinfestival and Read my World. In 2016 she was selected to take part in the Slow Writing Lab. One of her stories appeared in Zwart, an anthology of Afro-European literature from the Low Countries.

​In 2018 hoe de eerste vonken zichtbaar waren was awarded the Poëziedebuutprijs Aan Zee. That year Simone also took part in a residency in Paris with Flemish Dutch House deBuren. She is currently working on a novel that will be published by Lebowski Publishers. Her work focuses on the impact of social stigmas concerning race and gender on the individual.

Simone Atangana Bekono might never have got around to writing. As a student she pursued an entirely different interest. ‘I’m not a writer who knew at the age of twelve that she wanted to write. In secondary school I well and truly lost all joy in reading. All I wanted to do was watch films.’ She bursts out laughing only to resume with a big, pretend frown: ‘Seriously, as a student I watched an absurd number of films. To this day I believe my work is influenced by an interest in film. It determines my approach to stories. For instance, I have no affinity with dialogue. My writing is informed by actions, by images and associations. What I write is a cross between a poem and a film script.'